Sunday was our second team run - again a very nice morning, yet colder than last week. Coach Rick had a sports psychologist speak to us about motivation, race day jitters, facing our fears and overall mental health during training. I found it very interesting, considering I at one time thought about going into sports psychology. It's such an interesting field the studies the mind of athletes, what makes them tick, why they do what they do and ultimately how the good ones are the most mentally strong.
I did became a little anxious as we began talking about race day and how all of the mental preparation that motivates you day after day to train and run is in the end just practice to be mentally tough on marathon day. Rick made a great comment that really resonated with me - he said that your worst runs are actually the best training runs because you learn the most about yourself when facing adversity. I had always thought that was true to a small scale since I always feel the toughest workouts and most grueling conditions were the most rewarding, but never thought of it as a building of my mental toughness.
We ran 5 miles on Sunday in Newton, starting in the same general area - we will start at the same church from here on out. I really am enjoying the team runs because they are going to include lots of hills, an element of running that I enjoy but don't necessarily seek out. I ran with Jen, the other Jumpstart employee on the team, and we discovered we run at similar paces. I'm looking forward to running with her more!
On a VERY exciting note...I bought a food processor! I'm so thrilled because I've wanted one for so long (merry christmas to me!). I will be making homemade peanut butter tonight and can't wait to share the pictures and recipe :)
Tomorrow morning I'll be running 4 miles - hope it's not too windy.
Goodnight!
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